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16 of action. Her husband had in all probability been drowned. Even if he could find out where the husband's people lived and send Kamala to them it was very doubtful if they would receive her, and it would not be fair to her to send her back to her uncle's house. What sort of reception would she have from society if it were known that she had been living all this time with another man as his wife? Where could she find sanctuary? Even if her husband were alive was it likely that he would wish or dare to take her back? Whatever Ramesh did with her he would be casting her adrift on a chartless sea. He could not keep her with him on any footing except that of a wife and he could not hand her over to any one else; and yet he and she could not live together as man and wife. Ramesh had hastily to smudge out the charming picture of this girl as his future companion in life though he had painted it in such glowing tints while love mixed the colours!

A continued stay in his own village would be intolerable, but in the teeming population of Calcutta he would be a mere noteless unit, and there he might discover some solution. He carried Kamala off to Calcutta accordingly and took lodgings at a considerable distance from his former abode.

Kamala found the experience intensely exciting. They had no sooner settled into their quarters on the day of their arrival than she ensconced herself in the window-seat. The unceasing stream of humanity was a spectacle inspiring her with a curiosity that nothing could satisfy. They had a solitary maidservant to whom the Calcutta streets were no novelty and she looked on the girl's wonder as sheer madness.

"What on earth is there to gape at? Aren't you going to have your bath? It's quite late," she cried peevishly.

This woman was to work during the daytime and